diff --git a/test/lisp/simple-tests.el b/test/lisp/simple-tests.el
index 4adcacb279b..63e504bbe17 100644
--- a/test/lisp/simple-tests.el
+++ b/test/lisp/simple-tests.el
@@ -38,6 +38,13 @@
      ,@body
      (with-no-warnings (simple-test--buffer-substrings))))
 
+
+;;; `count-words'
+(ert-deftest simple-test-count-words-bug-41761 ()
+  (with-temp-buffer
+    (dotimes (i 10) (insert (propertize "test " 'field (cons nil nil))))
+    (should (= (count-words (point-min) (point-max)) 10))))
+
 
 ;;; `transpose-sexps'
 (defmacro simple-test--transpositions (&rest body)